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The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’S an American Dream

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The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’S an American Dream Charles University in Prague Faculty of Education DIPLOMA THESIS 2013 Jonáš Kříž Charles University in Prague Faculty of Education The Concepts of the American Dream in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’s An American Dream Jonáš Kříž Department of English Language and Literature Vedoucí diplomové práce: PhDr. Petr Chalupský, Ph. D. Studijní program: Učitelství pro střední školy Studijní obor: Učitelství všeobecně vzdělávacích předmětů pro základní školy a střední školy anglický jazyk- základy společenských věd 2013 Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci na téma The Concepts of the American Dream in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’s An American Dream vypracoval pod vedením vedoucího diplomové práce samostatně za použití v práci uvedených pramenů a literatury. Dále prohlašuji, že tato diplomová práce nebyla využita k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. Datum ............................................................. podpis Rád bych touto cestou vyjádřil poděkování PhDr. Petru Chalupskému, Ph.D. za jeho odborné rady, čas věnovaný vedení mé diplomové práce a pomoc při zhodnocení získaných informací a podkladů. Abstrakt Práce nabízí srovnávací analýzu pojetí amerického snu ve dvou zásadních dílech americké literatury ve Velkém Gatsbym Francise Scotta Fitzgeralda a v Americkém snu od Normana Mailera. Teoretická část práce se zaměřuje na definici amerického snu v jeho obecném smyslu a sleduje vývoj tohoto fenoménu během historie Spojených států amerických. Jejím cílem je odhalit souvislost amerického snu s americkým národním povědomím v pro něj typických rysech jako je soběstačnost, individualismus a svoboda. Analytická část se zabývá izolováním jednotlivých literárních prvků obou románů, které mohou být nějakým způsobem vztahovány k tématice amerického snu. Analýza románů Velký Gatsby a Americký sen zahrnuje ústřední postavy obou děl, stejně tak jako jejich dramatické prvky za účelem prokázání klíčového významu problematiky amerického snu v jejich příběhu. Na závěr práce předkládá názor, že ačkoliv Mailer a Fitzgerald zpracovávají dané téma rozdílně, obě díla zpodobňují porážku individuální podoby amerického snu v souboji s kolektivní povahou americké společnosti 20. století bránící snahám jednotlivce o seberealizaci. Klíčová slova: Norman Mailer, Americký sen, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Velký Gatsby, americký sen Abstract The thesis provides a comparative analysis of the American Dream’s concept in the two essential pieces of American literature: Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’s An American Dream. The theoretical part of the text focuses on the general definition of the American Dream and its development throughout the history of the United States. It aims at exposing the close relationship of the idea of the American Dream and the American national consciousness in terms of self-reliance, individualism and freedom. The analytical part concentrates on isolating the individual literary motifs of each novel that can be regarded as related to the notion of the American Dream. It discusses the central characters as well as dramatic aspects of The Great Gatsby and An American Dream in order to prove the American Dream to represent an essential theme in their literary frameworks. As a conclusion the thesis presents the opinion that each author elaborates this theme differently. Both novels, however, expose the individual version of the American Dream as being defeated in a struggle against the collective nature of the 20th century American society restricting the efforts of an individual for his or her self-realization. Keywords: Norman Mailer, An American Dream, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, The American Dream Table of Contents 1. Introduction............................................................................................................ 1 2. Theoretical Part 2.1 The Origins of the American Dream...................................................................2 2.2 The Puritan Heritage...........................................................................................5 2.3 Abraham Lincoln’s Dream of Social Mobility.....................................................8 2.4 From Rags to Riches: A Dream of an Exceptional Individual............................12 2.5 The American Dream as the Political and Economic Idea in the 20th Century..............................................................................................................15 2.6 Revival of the American Dream in the Beat Generation..................................17 2.7 The Afro-American Rejection of the Dream.....................................................21 2.8 The American Dream in Literature...................................................................23 3. Analytical Part 3.1 The Concept of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby..............................27 3.1.1 The Aspects of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby...................27 3.1.2 The Power of Imagination in The Great Gatsby....................................29 3.1.3 Gatsby’s Struggle between the Dream and the Reality........................33 3.1.4 Jay Gatsby as an American Dream Idealist...........................................36 3.1.5 The Death of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby......................41 3.2 The Concept of the American Dream in An American Dream.........................44 3.2.1 The Aspects of the American Dream in Norman Mailer’s An American Dream....................................................................................................44 3.2.2 Stephen Rojack as an American Existentialist.......................................47 3.2.3 Stephen Rojack as an American Dream Dissenter................................50 3.2.4 The American Nightmare Exposed in Barney Oswald Kelly..................57 3.2.5 Rojack’s Challenge of the American Nightmare...................................62 4. Conclusion.......................................................................................................67 5. Bibliography......................................................................................................71 1.Introduction The aim of the diploma thesis is to provide a comparative analysis of the American Dream in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Norman Mailer’s An American Dream. These novels were chosen because of their significance in their relation to this typically American phenomenon. The major intention of the work is to perform an analysis of how the two different American authors of distinct historical periods elaborate this concept in their selected writings. The theoretical part of the thesis would provide a definition of the American Dream in its general sense and discuss the origins and the general development of this idea throughout the American history. By describing the evolving shape of the American Dream in different historical periods the text shall try to expose the concept in question as both an individual and collective idea possessing an essential importance for the national identity of Americans. It would also demonstrate its relation to the typically American values such as self-reliance, individualism and freedom. Additionally, it would comment on the changing role of the American Dream in the 20th century and its reflections in the American literature. The major purpose of the research performed in the analytical part of the thesis is to isolate the individual literary themes of both novels and expose them in their relation to a concept of the American Dream. The analysis would address both novels individually and discuss them in terms of their central characters and major dramatic motifs. It shall try to prove the opinion that the concept of the American Dream represents an essential motif of both novels. In addition to that, the analysis would comment on the way how this theme is elaborated and mediated to a reader. In this sense the major focus of the analysis is to prove the essential role of the American Dream in both novels and analyse the ways in which the concepts of the American Dream in the selected literary works differ. 1 2. Theoretical Part 2.1 The Origins of the American Dream In the American national identity the American Dream possesses a wholly unique place. On the simplest level it can be considered synonymy for the American way of life (Podhorská 24). Although the concept of the American Dream was popularized during the 20th century to such an extent that it became almost a sort of an advertising cliché, the term itself is much older and can be perceived as representing a stable symbol witnessing the history of the American Union from its very beginning. Despite being introduced into the general knowledge of the Americans in James Truslow Adams’ 1931 book Epic of America, the notion of the American Dream was pioneered much earlier by Alexis de Toqueville as a symbol representing the unique character of a newly born nation. “Ours is the nation that prides itself upon a dream and gives its name to one: The American Dream” (Allen, “The Urgent West” 3) stated Lionel Trilling, an American scholar and literary critic. His words clearly illustrate the importance the notion of the American Dream has for all Americans. The American Dream represents an ideal upon which the American society is built (Podhorská 26). Trilling’s words also expresses the huge spiritual gap between the nations of the old world and the new. Whereas in Europe every nation is inevitably destined
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